IM John Donaldson is the chess director at the Mechanics Institute, where he organizes events and publishes a weekly newsletter. He has been the captain of numerous medal-earning American teams, including the 2010 World Team silver medal squad.

This article fulfilled every one of my judging criteria with style. The chess content is superb, Donaldson's writing is thoughtul and precise, the educational value is significant, the interest and enjoyability factors are very high, and the topic is important -- how to maintain a strong US presence in future olympiads, and develop our country's talent base. Donaldson caps his role as the team coach with a perfectly executed article, then turns his heartfelt coaching concern toward the rest of the United States and its chess future—Damian Nash

Great coverage and analysis. The topic at the end of the article was a bit depressing, but the analysis and insights were as good as in any article this year--Michael Cornett

IM John Donaldson shared a day by day, round by round, account of the
up-and-down performance by the USA Olympiad team. A large selection of
games, many with light comments, highlighted the best games and key
positions of the tournament. Team captain Donaldson not only reported
on the Americans, but also followed the hunt for the medals between
Ukraine, Russia, Israel and others . The article concluded with some
thought-provoking concerns about the future of the USA team as the
current players become older—Michael "f-pawn" Aigner